Paul Ferraro: Start Planning for Next Hurricane Harvey

Paul Ferraro, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Business and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, with joint faculty appointments at the Carey Business School, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Whiting School of Engineering, is an economist who examines issues related to the environment. He has written an op-ed for Bloomberg View about the hurricane that has battered southeast Texas.

"As a nation, we need to be better prepared for such catastrophic floods so as to mitigate their widespread damage and loss of life," Ferraro states. "Harvey’s 50 inches of rain in a few days might be unusual, but extensive flooding with its subsequent property damage and loss of life is not. It’s time to stop using the words 'unprecedented' or 'one in a pick-your-large-number-year flood' to fool ourselves into believing that we’re experiencing one-off disasters that can’t be defended against. We have the tools to prepare, if we’re bold enough to use them."